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The Long Game

How the Chinese Negotiate with India

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The Long Game

Written by: Vijay Gokhale
Narrated by: Derek Denzil
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India's relations with the People's Republic of China have captured the popular imagination ever since the 1950s but have rarely merited a detailed understanding of the issues. Individual episodes tend to arouse lively debate, which often dissipates without a deeper exploration of the factors that shaped the outcomes. This book explores the dynamics of negotiation between the two countries, from the early years after Independence until the current times, through the prism of six historical and recent events in the India-China relationship. The purpose is to identify the strategy, tactics and tools that China employs in its diplomatic negotiations with India, and the learnings for India from its past dealings with China that may prove helpful in future negotiations with the country. Asia Democracy Diplomacy Geopolitics Ideologies & Doctrines International Relations Politics & Government Southeast Asia
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One of the best books on India China relations. Coming from the foreign secretary and the Indian ambassador to China himself , book helps one understand how China negotiates. A must read for thsoe interested in the subject

Great Read!!

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This masterfully written book by former Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale offers an invaluable insider look into the complex world of Chinese diplomacy.

The first half of the book is particularly brilliant, offering a fascinating look at the sheer thoroughness of Chinese negotiators. Gokhale details how Beijing prepares meticulously for every meeting, studying their counterparts deeply, memorising past precedents, and entering the room with absolute alignment on their core objectives. It serves as a stark reminder of the rigorous discipline that drives their statecraft.

From there, the narrative shifts to highlight China’s preference for staying out of the limelight when obstructing geopolitical progress. Instead of taking a loud, front-facing stance, they masterfully use passive obstruction, procedural delays, and subtle vetoes behind closed doors to block outcomes that do not align with their interests. A key part of this strategy is how they intentionally buy time during a negotiation. By creating artificial delays, dragging out discussions over single words, or shifting goalposts, they successfully exhaust their opponents and wait out political cycles to extract maximum concessions.

Despite these sobering realities, the book concludes on an encouraging and positive note. Gokhale convincingly shows that India's diplomatic corps has learned from past encounters and is rapidly adapting. Armed with better institutional memory, firmer mandates, and a deeper understanding of Beijing’s playbook, Indian negotiators are getting significantly better at dealing with their Chinese counterparts—proving that India can confidently hold its ground on the global stage.

Detail explainer on how Chinese negotiate.

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It is not very often that one comes across a great book on geo-strategy and geo-politics by an Indian academic.This is one of those rare works which is truly brilliant even by international standards.This work should be studied not only by Indian practitioners of international diplomacy but also by those of western countries including Americans.China is already a great global power and is working very hard to replace USA as the world’s supreme global power.All countries who would be affected by this need to read this book to prepare themselves suitably to deal with Chinese negotiators and interlocutors.

A most remarkable book

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Author had poured a lot of effort in sharing the deep knowledge that cannot be easily gained. The last (7th chapter) reveals his good intentions. Must read for all those who are interested in deceptional tactics adopted by China in negotiations.

Excellent source of knowledge on the topic.

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